Thursday, July 12, 2012

the "I" in iPod

A lot of literature has been produced on why my generation
is so spoiled. Some blame so-called helicopter parents, hovering over their
children, obliterating anything that could challenge or hurt them. Others blame
media schilling the message of specialism, or snowflake syndrome. I blame
music. Specifically, mp3 players. It’s hard not to feel like you’re going
someplace important when you’re listening to this while walking there:

On the flip side, few things can exacerbate a
feeling of isolation like listening to a playlist full of this for hours on
endless repeat:

And with an mp3 player, you can listen to that as much as
you want, whenever. You’re in control of the music and no one can make you
change it, as long as you’ve got some headphones. Your will is all that
matters. The preceding generations had to wait for songs they liked to play on the radio, find a way to record them, or buy their cassette tapes. (and on long car rides it was all down to what the people in the front seat of the car wanted to listen to) The generations that came before THEM had to hope they had friends who could play music or hope for the money to buy a phonograph and records. We are the first generation to grow up with the power to choose the soundtrack of our lives for ourselves. More to the point, we are the first generation that -for good or ill- has the opportunity to truly lose itself (and thereby its perspective of the rest of the world) in its music.